for Ruth Awad
Today on your birthday,
I told several people seeking advice
to read your work. Not because,
but because I didn't know, at the time,
it being your anniversary howl.
My people dreamed of stately swans
floating across dreamcatcher
ponds who were themselves ancient people.
When I was a child, a bear came to me,
and in my sleep it nudged me awake,
and breathed into my mouth. Now I confess
my words, my words, my tongue are hers.
She still comes in between worlds, comes
and looks down at me, much as you do,
in that photo, the one where behind
you, on swan-white paper, float the words,
traP
teoP
traP
floW
Yes. It is the look of one who knows
this world is a forest trail, cutting,
winding its way down to water, down
to a face made of tears.
J.P. Dancing Bear is editor of Verse Daily. He is the author of sixteen
collections
of poetry, most recently, Of Oracles and Monsters (Glass Lyre
Press, 2020), and Fish
Singing Foxes (Salmon Poetry, 2019). His work has
appeared in hundreds of venues.
ABOUT SUGAR HOUSE REVIEW
We loved reading the work that we’ve published (clearly), and we want an
opportunity to better hear our contributors. We're featuring audio recordings of
poems from our pages, read by the poet. This an open invitation to all contributors
from any of our issues, we were delighted to print your work, now we’re eager to
hear it.
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